Waffle House Hero & Others Honored At BET Awards With Humanitarian Honors By John Legend

Something incredible happened at the 2018 BET Awards: not one, but SIX people won the coveted Humanitarian Hero Award! Find out more about the incredible people honored this year.

This has been a year full of hate, prejudice, mass shootings, and indescribable horrors faced by citizens and migrants alike. But it the middle of that, we’ve seen the good people, the heroes, come forward to do something above and beyond for their community. At the 2018 BET Awards, six of those people were honored with the Humanitarian Award because of that! Maybe even better? John Legend praised them and handed them their trophies! This is how BET determined who should receive the honor, per a statement from the network:
“This year, the Network will recognize six individuals who have done extraordinary things in some of the most disheartening of situations. The intention is to remind everyone that you don’t have to be a celebrity to give back and support others in need; we all have the opportunity to make a difference for the betterment of humankind…The bravery and strength of the highlighted 2018 honorees is truly exceptional,” said the network.

The BET Awards Humanitarian Heroes are: James Shaw Jr., also known as the Waffle House Hero. He disarmed a man who went on a shooting spree in the restaurant, saving countless lives and getting injured in the process. Naomi Wadler is just 11 years old. She gave a rousing speech at the March For Our Lives asking people to save kids like her from gun violence. Justin Blackman was the only student to leave his high school on National Student Walk Out Day.

Then, there was Anthony Borges, who survived the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and saved his classmates, as well. This bonafide superhero threw his body in the line of fire and was shot five times. Mamoudou Gassama recently went viral when pedestrians caught him scaling the side of a high-rise in France to save the a 4-year-old dangling from a balcony. He made it up there in record time and the toddler was totally unharmed. No wonder people are comparing him to Spider-Man! And Shaun King — a remarkable journalist who’s dedicated his life to untold stories in the black community.